Overflow: A Place for His Presence

Over the last three weeks, we've been in this series we're calling Overflow. And we've been tracing God's purpose all the way from the beginning and seeing that even when humanity gets it wrong, even when we wander off course or we try to find life somewhere outside of God, God's desire and design remain. His desire has always been to dwell with his people and to be the source of their life. And his design has always been for his presence among his people to bring abundant life. And that abundant life is supposed to overflow through his people into new places.

The story of scripture from COVID to cover is the story of an unchanging God creating people in love, giving them the freedom to trust him, and then watching humanity revolution repeatedly reach for life outside of Him. We saw it in Eden when Adam and Eve tried to become their own source. We saw it in Egypt when Israel began trusting the resource God had provided them through Egypt to make it become a source. And we've seen God patiently keep calling his people back, teaching them that resources make terrible sources, false sources eventually become masters, and the life he gives was never meant to stop with him. And here's the central problem running through the whole story of Scripture.

God's presence definitely is the source of life, but sin separates humanity from that presence. So what's to be done? How can people who have chosen life apart from God live with him again today? I want us to see that while humanity keeps rebelling, wandering, changing, God does not. His desire stays the same.

His design stays the same. And rather than abandoning us to the separation that we have created, God keeps patiently making a way back to his presence. And before we pick up the story back with Israel in the wilderness, I want us to go back to Eden another time. Because right there, as sin enters the world, we begin to see both the problem and the first hints of how God is going to make a way back home. But first, there's one detail from the fall that I want us to notice.

Genesis 2 says that God places Adam in the garden to work it and take care of it. The Hebrew words there are avad and shamar, to work and to keep, to watch over and guard. Adam is given the responsibility to serve in and guard the sacred space where God's presence dwells. These two words are going to come back. They're going to be important later, so just kind of file them away.

When Adam and Eve sin, they aren't simply breaking a random rule. They're rebelling against the God whose presence gives them life. And they're about to lose access to the sacred space they were created to live in, serve and guard. Genesis 3, starting in verse 6. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some of it and ate it.

She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called the man, where are you? Of course he knows where Adam is. The Hebrew word here is almost literally, why aren't you where I put you? And he answers, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid. And he said, who told you you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man said, the woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. Then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? The woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. Just like us.

The second you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar, you start becoming this bickering child that's looking for someone else to blame, right? The aftermath of their sin is often described as the curse or the punishment. And that's fair. At some level, God is judging their sin, giving them a punishment as a result. But there's more going on than simply God saying, you were bad, now I'm going to make your life.

Adam and Eve haven't just been bad. They've chosen independence. They've chosen to cut themselves off from the source of life. For them, death isn't just a punishment. Death is the inevitable result of being disconnected from the source of life.

Even when they reach for life without him, they rebel. They make a mess of what he's created. God doesn't abandon his original desire and design. Adam and Eve change, but God doesn't. He has this patient, gracious way of meeting them and us in the mess that we make and saying, I love you enough to let you choose your path.

And if this is the path that you're determined to take, it's going to cost more than you think it's going to cost, and it's going to be difficult, and it's going to be hard and it's going to hurt and it's going to take the long way around. But I'm not going to give up on you. I can still get where I'm going from here. And almost immediately, we see that grace, that kind of grace begin to show up. The moment Adam and Eve sin, something changes inside of them.

For the first time, they feel shame. They recognize their nakedness and their immediate instinct is to cover themselves. So they sew together fig leaves and make a covering of their own. But God provides a better covering. Genesis 3.

21. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and and clothed them. Their covering is not enough, so God provides one for them. But this better covering comes at a cost. For Adam and Eve to be clothed in animal skins, another life has to be given.

Hang on to that, it's going to come back. Human beings try to cover what is broken own, but our covering is never enough. God provides what we cannot provide for ourselves. And that provision comes through the giving of life. But even with this covering, the deeper problem has not gone away.

Adam and Eve are still separated from the presence they were created for. Genesis 3, verse 23. So the Lord God banished him Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim. That's an angel and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

So Adam and Eve now are outside of the place of God's presence. They're cut off from the life they were created to receive and live in from God. And on the east side of Eden, God places cherubim angels to guard the way back to the tree of life. Now I know that some of these details can feel like a fantasy book, like we're reading Lord of the Rings or something, but I don't want us to miss what's going on here. Don't miss these pictures that really matter.

The direction they left for from the garden out to the east, the guarded entrance, the cherubim, the animal skin covering. All of this is going to show up again. The rest of scripture is the long story of God making a way back to his desire and design. With all this in mind, let's get back to our Exodus story. As we pick up the story back in Exodus, God has delivered Israel from Pharaoh, brought them safely through the Red Sea, led them into the wilderness, and almost immediately he begins the patient work of teaching a people who have learned to rely so heavily on the kingdom of this world, on Egypt, to begin to rely on him as their source.

He starts with the most basic of things, water and food. He provides food in the form of what's called manna. It's a type of bread that shows up on the ground in the mornings. And he tells them, just gather enough food for today. And if they try to gather more and keep it till the next day, it rots, and maggots are in it.

It's disgusting. But God's not just being stingy and gross. He's trying to teach them that he will provide for them day after day after day, instead of allowing them to store things up and build their own reservoirs and believe that they can control life.

God shaping them into a people who reflect his character. And so he gives them leadership and laws and commands and boundaries that teach them how to live with him and how to live with one another. And God intends for them to become a living picture to the nations around them of what it looks like when a people, a whole nation, follow God and live closely with him. Deuteronomy 4, verse 6. Moses describes this.

He says, observe the decrees and laws carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations who will hear about all these decrees and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws is this body of laws I'm setting before you today? Do you hear the same desire and design? God wants to dwell with his people.

He wants to be their source of life. He wants to show them how to live. And then he wants to bless them and that blessing to echo out into the life around them. All through the wilderness, God is giving his people visible signs that he's with them. His presence leads them in a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire.

And then at Mount Sinai, his presence settles on the top of the mountain in cloud, fire, smoke, and glory. God is with them, but he's just outside of arm's reach. He's up on the mountain. And then God takes an incredible step closer. He tells Moses, gather up an offering and resources and items so that we can build a place among the people in the middle of the camp where I can dwell with them again.

Exodus 25:8. Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle That's a temporary structure, a tent, and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern. I will show you. I will dwell among them.

This is Eden language. God's not inventing a brand new desire and design here. It's the same thing. He's moving his people back toward what he wanted from the beginning, his presence, dwelling in the midst of his people, giving them life. And then God gives an incredible amount of explanation and detail for how this will work.

The next 13 chapters are set aside to describe every little detail of the tabernacle. And I think any of us who have read through this section of Scripture have had the exact same experience we have read it detail after detail after detail after detail. And it is a snooze festival. Anybody? And then just about the time we finally finish slogging through all those instructions, Exodus turns around and gives us almost the exact word for word explanation as they make each piece of all the things that God has asked them to.

Why on earth would God use up over 11,000 words in scripture to describe, in incredible, painful detail, detail, all the pieces of something that's temporary? Why would he do this?

He's showing us something far bigger than a temporary special tent in the middle of the camp. He's showing us the beginning of the path back to his presence. The tabernacle is a giant arrow pointing back towards Eden. And as God establishes it, he sets apart priests and Levites to do two things, to serve and guard the sacred space. Those same Hebrew words, Avad and Shemar, the same words he gave Adam in the garden to serve and guard.

That was Adam's calling in Eden. He was given a priest like role in the place where God's presence dwelled. And now the tabernacle, that same kind of language shows up again. The priests from Aaron's line and the Levites around them are appointed to serve in and guard the place of God's presence. God is rebuilding sacred space in the middle of his people.

So let's take a quick tour of the tabernacle. I obviously don't have time to cover 11,000 words worth of detail, but let's look at a modern rendering of the tabernacle here. All right, so this is the modern rendering of the tabernacle. If you notice on the far right, that is the only entrance into the tabernacle. And that entrance faces the east.

Remember, when Adam and Eve left the garden, they went to the east. Now this beginning of restoration back into God's presence comes from the east to the west. And as you move east to west, we'll just walk through the pieces here, and then I'll describe them in a little more detail. The first thing you come up on is this giant altar of sacrifice. The second thing is this basin for washing and cleansing.

And this is a cutaway of the tabernacle. But there would have been an entrance there. And in this first room, it's called the Holy place. And you can see that there are a few things there. And then there's a curtain there.

And again, it's a cutaway. So that curtain would have been across the whole thing. And behind that curtain is the most holy place. And on that curtain you can see there are angels protecting the most holy place. So this is the picture.

Now we'll walk through a few of the details. The entrance leads into the outer court. And as you move from east to west, the very first thing you encounter is that large bronze altar. This is where sacrifices would happen. And so to come near to God to worship an Israelite would bring an animal without defect.

And on behalf of that person, the animal would be killed. Its blood would be put on the altar, and its body would be burned thereto. A sacrifice given. Before you can get anywhere near the presence of God, you encounter death, blood, and a life given. Back in Eden, Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves, but God provided a better covering that came through the loss of life.

Now God gives Israel and entry into the place of his presence through sacrifice. That brings atonement, covering for sin. The message is clear. If sinful people want to draw near a holy God, blood, death, another life must be given. Then between the altar and the entrance is that large basin.

It was for cleansing. The priests would wash their hands and feet there. They would be cleansed by the water before they got to go into presence with God. And this echoes so many things from scripture. But then they would go to that first curtain and they could pass through so priests could pass into that holy place.

And as we step into the holy place, the symbolism explodes. On one side is this intricately designed lampstand. It's not just a regular lampstand. It's got all of these elements shaped into it. It's shaped with branches and buds and blossoms and almond flowers.

It's designed to look like a living flowering tree of light and life. Across from the lampstand is the table of the Bread of Presence. And every Sabbath, 12 loaves of bread are placed on this table, table representing God's providence for all 12 tribes of Israel. Along with the bread are the vessels used for drink offerings, wine, this table, bread and wine. And it's stirring up all kinds of imagery from the past and from the future.

So now we have bread and wine, a flowering tree of light. It starts to feel like Eden. In the garden, God's presence was surrounded by abundant provision. Humanity had everything they needed. There was unhindered fellowship with God.

And here, inside the holy place, God fills this space with these pictures of life and provision again. Now, the priests could enter this place daily. They would carry out their service daily, tending to the lampstand, caring for the bread. And as you continue from east to west, directly in front of the curtain leading into the most holy place sits an altar of incense. And every morning and every evening, incense would be burned there.

And that smoke rising later on in the Bible is the imagery Israel had of their prayers rising up to God. But this is as far as the priest could normally go. Behind that altar of incense is that curtain. And this curtain's different. Woven into it are cherubim, angels, and now this connection back to Eden.

It's unmistakable. It's this path from east to west, sacrifice, cleansing, God's presence. Moving to this curtain in Genesis, cherubim guard the way back to the presence where God is inside. Behind that curtain is the most holy place. And inside the most holy place is the Ark of the Covenant.

It's a wooden chest covered in gold. If you've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, this is what Indiana Jones is looking for. Right? Here's a picture, a modern rendering. So this was a wooden box covered in gold, and on top was a lid.

And that lid was referred to as the mercy seat. And these two angels with their wings spread towards the middle. And God tells Moses, right there between those wings on the mercy seat, that is exactly where I will meet you. This is the very spot of God's presence in the camp among his people. This is the place the priest would sprinkle the blood for the redemption of the people.

But only one person, one day of the year is allowed into the most holy place, the Day of Atonement. Leviticus describes an incredibly detailed, careful process of washing and special clothing and incense and sacrifice and blood. Jewish tradition tells us that the high priest would spend an entire week preparing for this with food and rituals and cleansing. And the night before he was to go in, tradition says that they would keep him up all night just in case he might have a dream that would make him impure to go in the next day, and he would be struck down dead. On the Day of atonement, the high priest could enter the most holy place to make atonement for the sins of the nation of Israel.

And but there's one problem. He has his own sins to deal with. His own sin has to be covered. And so this is how God describes that being covered. Leviticus 16:11.

Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. And he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground frag incense and take them behind the curtain. He's to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the law, so that he will not die. So finally, after his own cleansing, preparation and sacrifice, could the high priest make atonement for the people of Israel and still another life, this time a goat.

And the blood of a goat would be sprinkled there on the mercy seat for the sins of the people. He would pass through the curtain into that dark room filled with smoke, that smoke that would conceal the view of God's presence, so he would not be struck down by seeing it. And through the death of another life, through the intermediary work of this high priest, mercy could be extended to the people and covered for another year so that God could keep his presence there among them. In the tabernacle, God is beginning to build the road back to restoring Eden. But even as God's presence is there in the tabernacle, there's still distance, there's still curtain, there's still cherubim guarding the entrance to the most holy place.

God is saying, you can come near, you can come this far and no further. The way back to Eden is not fully open. So what's to be done? Well, as we fast forward to the New Testament, after nearly 1400 years, just imagine this. 1400 years of daily, weekly, yearly sacrifices.

After countless, countless lives and immeasurable amounts of blood has been shed for God's people to experience only a portion of Eden restored, God finally sends Jesus to do something that no other priest could do. All of this to show us that sin is a much greater problem than we imagine.

Here's how Hebrews 7 describes what Christ has come to do. Such a high priest. Jesus truly meets our need. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day for his own sins and then for the sins of the people.

He sacrificed for their sins once for all. When he offered himself, Jesus does something no other high priest could do. He does not need a sacrifice to cover his own sin, because he has no sin. He does not need to enter to bring sacrifice and carry blood of a bull or a goat. He offers himself and Hebrews says he does it once and for all.

Jesus comes as both the greater high priest and the greater sacrifice, to give his blood and body as the greater covering. And when he dies, the separation between God and man opens in an incredibly new way. Matthew 27, verse 50. And when Jesus had cried out again in a light loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

For generations this curtain has been saying, God is here, but you can only come this far. And then Jesus gives his life, his blood is poured out and the curtain is torn from top to bottom. And the way back to to the presence of God is open. I can't think of a more fitting time in the service to share in communion together with all this rich imagery. If you didn't receive a communion cup on your way in, would you raise your hand?

Our team will bring you one.

And as you hold the bread and the cup today, I hope that this rich imagery of the fall and the restoration, the tabernacle and all of the sacrifice and blood and the better covering it brings this richness to our understanding of what Christ did on the cross.

This little wafer represents the body of Jesus willingly given for you the sacrifice, that that's the greater sacrifice. So as you take the bread, remember his body given for you.

As you hold this cup in your hand that represents his blood shed once and for all this greater covering, take and drink the body and blood of Christ poured out for you.

Heavenly Father, thank you for making a way, a way we didn't deserve away that cost us nothing and cost you everything.

Would you expand our understanding of what you're doing and what you have done and what you're on the way to? Would you help us to see the richness in your word and in communion?

Thank you. Thank you for your blood and body given. It's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Hebrews 9:24. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands. There was only a copy of the true one. He entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again the Way High priest enters the most holy place every year with the blood that is not his own.

Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many. And he will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. He's coming back.

And when he comes back, he will fulfill in greater measure than we can imagine, true community and presence. Back with the Father, this Eden like picture that he has provided for us. I think we have this tendency to read the Bible and we read the story of Eden. We're like plan A, God made Eden and it was supposed to work out, but it didn't work out. And so he came up with plan B. I don't know, let's try a tabernacle, some laws, maybe we get some rules to follow.

Ah dang. That didn't work either. Plan B's out. What do we do? What do we do?

What do we do? 1400. I got an idea. What if we sent Jesus Plan C? This might work.

That's not what God is up to. Jesus is not plan C. This is all part of one unfolding massive story. From Eden to the new Eden. God had this plan the whole way through because we took the long route.

Jesus has already done what no other priest, sacrifice or human effort could ever do. His body and blood. Given that curtain has been torn, the way into his presence has been opened. And if you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, I just want to invite you to see the whole picture today that we do not have a God that's sitting back with arms crossed and brow furled, ashamed of us. And we are not standing just naked and broken without hope.

He has sent His Son as the greater sacrificial lamb and the great high priest who made the way to open this new path back to Him. This is what he's provided. And Paul says in Galatians that now he has given us this covering that we can be clothed with Christ. And if you've not been clothed with Christ today, we want to give you that invitation. Will you stand?

We're going to sing.